An Ideal Winter Getaway with Kids: Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells
There is nothing like being in a warm, tropical environment as the snow falls all around you.
Since we’ve had kids, we’ve stayed at the Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells three times. Currently, our boys are one and two. So needless to say, we love this place. Why is this our go-to Winter getaway? I’ll give you all the deets.
The Wilderness Resort is located in the Wisconsin Dells, an hour north of Madison, WI and two hours northwest of Milwaukee, WI. It is the Largest Waterpark Resort in the USA with four indoor waterparks, four outdoor waterparks and numerous other activities for any age. While we’ve always stayed in Winter, and therefore the outdoor waterparks have not been open, there is no shortage of things to do.
Below are my suggestions for how to stay, and things to do, with a young family in Winter.
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The Type of Lodging We’ve Used for our Family with Young Kids
There are four “types” of lodging at the Wilderness Resort.
Wilderness Hotel - This building is attached to all the indoor waterparks. Rooms are your “typical” hotel rooms, though they offer sofa beds in most rooms to maximize the space. (We’ve never stayed here, but have heard good things.)
Wilderness on the Lake: These units are separate from the majority of the property but these condos are attached to one of the four indoor waterparks. To get to any of the other activities, you have to take the resort shuttle or your car. (We’ve never been out to this part of the resort given how remote it is.)
Villas & Cabins: Looking for a place to host your family reunion? This could be it! Stand alone cabins and villas with many amenities. (These look amazing but we’ve yet to check them out.)
Glacier Canyon Lodge/Club Wyndham: Connected to the indoor waterparks and Wilderness Hotel via Skywalk, there are some typical hotel rooms, but many condos. The condos come in many varieties and include full kitchens. (We have stayed in these all three times we’ve been here!)
For our first trip to the Wilderness Resort, we stayed in a Two-Bedroom Condo in Glacier Canyon. We had a 1.5 year old and I was very pregnant. We also had my in-laws stay a night with us and they used the Murphy Bed in the living room. The Glacier Canyon rooms feel a bit dated, but are very comfortable and have most of what you need.
*Something to note: They do not offer high chairs at this resort. We also always bring our own Pack and Play when we travel so I’m not sure what their crib situation is.
For the second stay, we used our Wyndham Timeshare to get a Two Bedroom Presidential Condo. Wyndham owns a wing of condos within the Wilderness Resort which I didn’t know until we stayed at Club Wyndham Great Smokies Lodge during our visit to Gatlinburg, TN. After having an absolutely amazing time there I was so excited to find out we have something similar only a few hours from where we live!
We had a two year old and an eight month old. My in-laws came up for the second night and slept on the pullout couch. The condos are modern and beautiful. Very well stocked. We loved this room.
The third time we stay at the Wilderness Resort, we again used our Wyndham Timeshare to get a Two Bedroom Deluxe Condo. The difference between the Deluxe and Presidential are the overall square footage and high ceilings. We had a 2.5 year old and one year old at the time so my oldest slept in the second bedroom with travel bed bumpers to keep him from falling off the bed and our youngest slept in his Pack and Play in our room.
When we travel with young kids we try our best to get at least a one bedroom suite so we can try to get our kids down for naps (if it fits in our budget). The Glacier Canyon and Club Wyndham Condos are perfect for our young family. It also allows my husband and I to stay up after the kids go to bed and continue to enjoy our vacation.
Things to Do with a Young Family at this Amazing Resort:
For me, one of the most difficult parts of the day when traveling with babies and toddlers are those early morning hours. Both our boys got up around 5am when they were young. It’s really tough when you’re in a hotel room to figure out what to do with them without waking up the rest of the family. And after about 30min in a condo, the baby/toddler is ready for new scenery as well.
Enter a HUGE resort with endless hallways and many stores to “window” shop. I’m always aware that I don’t want my running toddler to wake up those still sleeping, so the skywalk and common areas at this resort are ideal for killing time before things open.
*Pro Tip: Bring a stroller or wagon. This resort is HUGE and your kiddos won’t want to walk the whole thing. Plus, then you can carry other things with you (snacks, diaper bag, etc).
Then at 7am, the coffee shops open. (You heard that right. Coffee shops.) I am not afraid to share my love (okay, obsession) for Starbucks (and all coffee shops, really) as you’ll notice on this blog and my social media. There is something so wonderful about a coffee made just for me on vacation.
So now I can sip on an amazing coffee, pick up fun pastries and donuts for my husband and boys, and keep following my toddler(s) around until the rest of the resort opens.
Since we have stayed in condos, we most certainly have food back in our kitchen, but it’s fun (and cheap) to get morning treats for the family.
One of the first activities to open, if not the first, is the Timberland Playground in the Wild West area. This activity is included with your room cost (as are the waterparks) so it’s ideal for young kids with short attention spans.
They have a smaller playground specific for toddlers and a very large playground for kids of all ages. It’s not easy, but I’ve followed my toddler through the “big kid” playground and I was eight months pregnant, so it’s doable for adults (and it’s so fun!).
The Timberland Playground is also next to the largest arcade on the resort. Not only can you play games, but they have laser tag, mini golf, rock climbing and more in this area as well. If you want to bring all your swim gear, one of the four indoor waterparks is attached to this part of the resort. (The Wild West area is not centrally located, so if you want to avoid a lot of walking, you can bring supplies for many different activities and camp out in this area for the morning/afternoon/day.)
For my toddler and baby, the playground and arcade were perfect for them. And then, of course, there’s the waterparks!
With babies and toddlers, we typically do fun things around the resort in the morning that don’t include water. After eating lunch in our condo, the boys go down for a nap. After nap, we do the waterparks.
A great part about the Wilderness Resort is that they have four indoor waterparks so if your stay is two, three or four days, it’s like you’re visiting a new place every day. We’ve never done Cubby’s Cove, though arguably this would be the perfect waterpark for our kids’ ages. But we’d either have to take the resort shuttle or our car to get there (in Winter) and our stroller is always packed full.
We have, however, thoroughly enjoyed the three other waterparks: Klondike Kavern, Wild Waterdome and Wild West. There is a special area for babies and toddlers in all these waterparks. If I had to rank these for a family with babies and toddlers I would say Klondike Kavern is our favorite (kid area and lazy river!), followed by Wild West (very nice kid area), and then the Wild Waterdome.
*Pro tip: For the Lazy River at Klondike Kavern, look for the double tubes that have a bottom in one of the holes. These are perfect for babies and young toddlers!
There is a WildKids Club at the resort which offers games, crafts and “build-a-bear” type activities. Most of these you have to pay for and given our kids ages, we haven’t participated in them yet.
Other fun things for older kids are go-karting, ropes course, escape rooms and Take Flight. They’re on our list for the future!
What to Eat at the Wilderness Resort
One of the things my husband and I appreciate when we travel is having an option for food either in the hotel/resort we’re staying, or right around the corner. Nothing ever goes according to plan on a family vacation, so having an option for quick food is key.
At the Wilderness Resort, we have had a full kitchen at our disposal, which is wonderful for storing staples (fruit, milk, sandwich meat, etc) and especially wonderful for leftovers. We start our stay at the Wilderness by getting a Klondike Pizza, which easily feeds our family of four and gives us lunch for the next day or two. This pizza is so good, and very reasonably priced.
Camp Social offers lots of different food options. The Burger Bar is in that area as well as a food truck. There are a number of quick service food options by all the Waterparks and a couple nicer sit down restaurants (like Survivors Bar & Grill which overlooks the Waterdome) which offer good food.
If you want to venture out (which in Winter, we haven’t) you could walk just outside the resort to a number of nice restaurants like Monk’s, Field’s Steakhouse and Sargento’s. These haven’t been in the cards for us given the time of year and ages of our kids.
Add in the ice cream and yogurt shops, the candy stores and coffee shops, and there’s no way you can try everything in one stay. Or three.
Overall Summary: Amazing Resort Stay in Winter, Where Every Day is Different
We love the Wilderness Resort, especially in Winter, because you can escape the cold and snow and bask in the warmth and humidity. You also get to unpack only once and yet you never have to repeat an activity during your long weekend! Four waterparks, countless ways to entertain little ones, and more food options than you’d ever be able to go through.
Not to mention, the rooms are so comfortable.
We can’t recommend this Winter Getaway enough for a family with young kids.
